Youth in Adult Organizations
There is a kind of community service that we don't often think about. It takes place when young people decide of their own accord to latch onto community organizations and train for the future to make things better. They admire the work done by an organization and therefore want to be a part of it. You don't see them immediately in the front lines. They are patiently sitting in the background learning how to become leaders, how the system works, and how to become a part of something bigger then they are.
I recently spent some time in Mississippi at a training conference. Never having been to Mississippi before, but having grown up in the south, I was overwhelmed with politeness and smiles from young people of every race and color. A child never entered a room or passed an adult without saying "Hello, ma'am" (the ma'am made me feel very old). A young person never entered a door before their elders. No one spoke out of turn.
Living in New York where most of the natives have forgotten the simplest manners I found this refreshing. I wasn't there to participate. I was there as the entertainment to perform my one person show for the attendees.
It was never my intention to walk into the conference and actually become a part of what was going on. Most of the sessions had been designed to aid local groups in understanding how to help their communities, learn how to get financial aid and how to apply for it. What was most exciting was that every group that attended bought young people. Not just to hold the doors open for them, but to learn the business of social justice. Many high school students got a chance to do presentations on how their organizations made a difference in their community. They used everything from graphics, to videos, to rap music. I was impressed as were others sitting there smiling at those who will take the torch once they step down. These young people had worked hard on these presentations. They had taken time from their studies because if you talked to them they had test coming up, they wanted to go to college, they were involved with other things at school. I was glad I was going to perform for them.
But once their part was over, I watched them sit back and become part of what was going on. I saw them loose interest. The adults around them were busy with the planned agendas of the organizations they represented. The young people were getting frustrated. Their ideas were unappreciated. They were polite when trying to participate, but they were still told they had to keep in the place of children- be seen and not heard unless you are spoken to.
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